Overview

Contents

Chapter 17: Can You Trust the Bible?

This chapter attempts to demonstrate that the Bible is trustworthy by showing that:

it contains knowledge unavailable to its authors,

it is an accurate record of events,

it has "internal harmony around a central theme", which is unlikely if it was written by multiple independent authors.

While this approach is sound, the execution is flawed.

The book uses Job 26:7 to claim that the Bible authors knew that the Earth hangs in space, and Isaiah 40:22 to claim that they knew that it was round.

To support the latter claim, the book cites the fact that the translators of the Douay version of the Bible used the word "globe" in the translation of Isaiah 40:22, ignoring the fact that most other English translations use "circle". This is cherry picking.

This section also ignores passages like Job 9:6, which claims that the Earth has pillars, and Revelation 7:1, which claims that the Earth has corners. Again, this is cherry-picking.

The book uses Ecclesiastes 1:7 to claim that the author knew about the water cycle:

7 unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

However, this verse is rather vague, and can apply to anything from evaporation to giant underground pumps.

The section on history mainly falls prey to the Spiderman fallacy: the fact that archeology has confirmed the existence of many of the people, places, and ordinary events (such as battles) in the Bible does not confirm that extraordinary events such as Noah's flood or Joshua's long day ever took place.

Finally, the chapter claims that the authors of the Bible displayed unusual honesty: for instance, in DeuteronomyMoses admits failings that prevent him from entering the promised land. The book never attempts to establish that Moses ever existed, or that he wrote the book of Deuteronomy.

The Bible is also said to have "internal harmony around a central theme", which would be unexpected in a book written by over 40 authors over 16 centuries. This claim fails on two counts.